Programmatic Antithesis
Much can be determined by taking a good look at what I will call the programmatic antithesis for a given thing. What is the procedure by which something can be nullified, countered, or otherwise undone? Once we know a thing's downfall, we can plan to succeed with the expectation that we will be confronted with at least a shadow of every nemesis. Confronting that shadow appropriately, we learn to define success in terms of non-failure.
I will give several examples and what we might learn.
A programmatic antithesis for reward:
How to render an award useless?
A. Delete the record or legally nullify the award.
B. Convince the recipient that it is worthless.
C. Prohibit the recipient from making good on the award or deny the award's currency or cachet.
D. Put the recipient in a trying situation in which the award has no value.
What can we learn from the programmatic antithesis of reward?
A. A reward the recognition of which is undisputed and incorruptible has greater value than the alternative--for example qualities of character, and well-protected goods.
B. Awards have more value to shrewd people who can determine whether the value is recognized by others, and if in fact the award has any redeemable value to themselves.
C. Awards are more valuable if the society allows the person to make good on the award, especially if the recipient has the stability of cultural standing. Awards that grant cultural standing are thus especially valuable, because they allow the recipient to make good on other rewards.
D. Awards that remain valuable in spite of the trials and tribulations of life are especially valuable. In order to be sure that an award has value, one has to have a consistent role that is suited to utilizing the benefits of the award.
A programmatic antithesis for art:
How to deny that artwork has value?
A. Invoke bad technique.
B. It is "unoriginal" or "mundane."
C. "Its opaque to translation".
D. "Its ephemeral, trashy".
E. "The artist is oblivious to the cultural context"
Too splashy or over-the-top
What can we learn from the programmatic antithesis of art?
A. It should have good technique. But technique needs a motive.
B. It should have a spark, or describe something new. It could be motivated by detailing or exploring an imaginary world.
C. Ideally, it might be motivated by trying to explain something. If it is opaque it is assumed that it is hiding something horrible, or exists simply because it is a kind of currency.
D. What it explains or explores should remain interesting even when the world changes. Thus much of its value has to do with its language.
E. Most people don't want to be shocked out of their senses. Be inexorable, be fatal, but make sure you refer to something people think they understand (at least, geometry).
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